Fixture

On the back of consecutive victories Beddau had climbed the table quite significantly and, importantly had opened a gap to Mid District rivals Ystrad Rhondda.  All seemed set then for a home win that would bolster Beddau`s efforts to climb away from the Championship`s drop zone.

If only scripts were so easily written and read.  In the event it was Ystrad who arrived with a sense of purpose and Beddau for whom hardly anything went right.

From the outset Beddau attacked at pace but a series of handling errors and failed lines out gifted possession to the visitors.  It looked, for a while, as though they couldn`t believe their luck, but then took the view, “If they don`t want it we will,” and from yet another lineout steal Ystrad rolled into the Beddau 22.  The ball was dislodged but some fly-hacking saw it ricochet from one pair of shins to another before Ystrad full back Cole Swannick steered his kick into space and won the race.  Liam Greening converted.

Could this be the wake-up call Beddau needed?  If so it fell on deaf ears because Ystrad pinned them into a corner and even when Sam Edwards turned over possession and won a relieving penalty the kick did not find touch and Ystrad`s return was swift.  A series of well-delivered passes put Sion Summers in for an unconverted score.

This time Beddau did respond.  Cameron Ellis cut in from his wing and pierced the first line of defence.  His pass, however, went to ground.  Tight-head Ben Lee tidied that up and gave Callum Wheeler a glimpse of the outside.  The outside-half threw an ambitious wide pass which was picked off by Swannick who had the legs to reach the line for Greening`s conversion to give the Rhondda side a 19-0 half-time lead.

When the second half began so did Beddau`s grasp of a sense of urgency and from some quick possession at a ruck lock Jack Perkins brushed off a tackle and galloped clear for a try that Callum Wheeler converted.  This signalled a lengthy period when Beddau were in the ascendancy but they never, at any time, developed sufficient poise to make their possession count.  Ystrd had kicked a long touch finder at a penalty and used the ball quickly to create an overlap for busy flanker Jarrod Llewellyn.  Curtis Williams now had the kicking duties and landed the conversion and followed that with a penalty awarded at a scrum.

Sadly, for Beddau, it hadn`t ended.  A dropped pass when attempting a counter attack, was swept up by the confident visitors who spread it quickly for a replacement back to run in a fine try.  The conversion failed but Ystrad had happily seen out a 34-7 victory.